NeoDarwinism's "Gene Centric" view falls to Epigenetics


The paper "A generalised approach to the study and understanding of adaptive evolution" by Edelaar et al. (2023) argues that the traditional view of evolution, which is based on the gene-centric view of natural selection, is too narrow. They propose a more generalized approach that takes into account the following three aspects:

  1. A broadened view of extended phenotypes. In addition to the traditional view of phenotypes as the physical characteristics of an organism, the authors argue that we should also consider the environment as part of the phenotype. This is because the environment can have a significant impact on an organism's fitness, and therefore on its evolutionary trajectory.

  2. The fact that traits can respond to each other. The authors point out that traits are not independent of each other. For example, the expression of one gene can affect the expression of another gene. This means that natural epigenetics can act on the interactions between traits, as well as on the traits themselves.

  3. The fact that inheritance can be non-genetic. The authors argue that epigenetic inheritance, in which environmental factors can cause changes in gene expression that are passed on to offspring, is an important part of adaptive evolution. This is because epigenetic changes can allow organisms to respond to environmental challenges in a way that is not possible through genetic changes alone.

The authors argue that their generalized approach to adaptive evolution is more comprehensive than the traditional gene-centric view. They also argue that it is more compatible with the evidence from epigenetics and other areas of research.

In the context of epigenetics, the authors argue that epigenetic changes can be considered "Non-Darwinian" because they do not involve changes in the DNA sequence. However, they point out that epigenetic changes can still have a significant impact on an organism's phenotype and fitness. Therefore, they argue that epigenetic changes should be considered an important part of adaptive evolution.

The paper by Edelaar et al. (2023) provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of adaptive evolution. It challenges the traditional gene-centric view of evolution and argues for a more generalized approach that takes into account the role of epigenetics and other non-genetic factors. This is an important step forward in our understanding of how evolution works, and it has the potential to lead to new insights into how we can improve the fitness of organisms in the face of environmental challenges.

Article snippets:

There is currently a tension between certain biological phenomena and mainstream evolutionary theory. For example, how does the inheritance of molecular epigenetic changes fit into mainstream evolutionary theory?

Is niche construction an evolutionary process? Is local adaptation via habitat choice also adaptive evolution?

These examples suggest there is scope (and perhaps even a need) to broaden our views on evolution.

We identify three aspects whose incorporation into a single framework would enable a more generalised approach to the understanding and study of adaptive evolution:

(i) a broadened view of extended phenotypes; (ii) that traits can respond to each other; and (iii) that inheritance can be non-genetic.

non-genetic inheritance of adaptive parental responses

distinct and independent drivers of adaptive evolution.

In contrast to a gene-centric view defining evolution only in terms of genetic change, our generalised approach allows us to see evolution as a change in the whole causal structure, consisting not just of genetic but also of phenotypic and environmental variables.




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